


Each Star is a New Horizon

by fw_feathers (callmeren)



Series: Minako Shinden [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Teen Romance, will add more as they apply
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27320434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmeren/pseuds/fw_feathers
Summary: Miscellaneous requests, drabbles, what-ifs, character studies, etc, forRising With The Breaking Dawn, a Naruto SI fanfic. Beware possible spoilers for the main fic.Latest chapter: Accident pt. 2 (Itachi/Minako)
Relationships: Uchiha Itachi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Minako Shinden [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966417
Comments: 61
Kudos: 135





	1. Request: Accident (Itachi/Minako)

**Author's Note:**

> It's safe to consider everything here isn't canon to the main fic unless I say otherwise ^_^

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon: Hellllo heard you were doing prompts awhile ago, never written one before.... nor seen a list yet so! I took the liberty of looking them up online. It’s a death prompt (sorry!!!,) ‘Accident‘ with Minako and Itachi (I am sorry they’re my Otp but sometimes some angst is needed)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: drug mention and character death. Also, they’re in their Shippuden ages here, just to be clear.

It had been an accident. A sheer stroke of luck, as double-sided as the wish from a monkey’s paw. An Ame nobleman had hired Akatsuki to take out a gang of drug traffickers in a nearby area, part of an effort to improve the lives of his people. Under Pein’s seemingly benevolent rule, little pockets of good like this flourished.

They found the gang in a series of caverns branching from the ones along the Kusa border. Kisame took care of the goons at the entrance, while Itachi slipped inside and began cutting down everyone in his way.

He found her dumped in the corner of their makeshift lab.

Her long, scarlet hair was ragged and filthy. Bruises lined her face and neck. Her arms were bound tightly behind her back, her ankles tied together. Open wounds festered along her torso and legs. She shivered—from the cold stone or from fever, Itachi didn’t know.

He was dropping to his knees before he even realized it. What was she doing here? Where was her team? He pressed his fingers to her pulse—too slow. He could have untied her and stall Kisame until she escaped, but in this state—

The warmth of his hand stirred her from her sleep. Deep blue eyes fluttered open. They tracked the shadows over his shoulder, before focusing on his face.

“Oh,” Minako said. Her voice slurred around the cut on her lip. “They must’ve giv’n me the good stuff, if I’m see’in you.”

…Okay. He can work with that.

A single kunai was all it took to remove the bindings around her biceps. He burned them to ash, erasing any sign they were there. He left her wrists and ankles tied, though he nicked both ropes with the kunai. Let her think one of her captors had taken the other rope in her sleep.

“Rescued by Uchiha fuck’n Itachi.” She pressed her face against the floor, mumbling to herself. “What a joke.”

Her hair spilled over her cheeks.

“…Why can’t I get you out of my head?”

He stilled. The last time they’d met, it had been across a battlefield. She had looked him in the eye, blazing with a steadfast will he’d never seen from her before, even when they were children.

She said, _I won’t let you control me anymore._

He had never been prouder. And it was a pride that ached. One more hurt in the well in his heart, knowing he had lost the last of his ties to her.

And yet, right now, she…

“Well? Did you find it?”

Shit.

Itachi rose in one fluid motion. “Yes. Their lab is here.” A quick hand sign hid Minako behind a genjutsu. The caves were saturated in enough blood and corpses that Kisame probably wouldn’t scent her.

The shark man sauntered in, bandages trailing from Samehada on his shoulder. “Good. Let’s get rid of this shit and get outta here.” Without hesitation, he flipped through the hand signs. “Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!”

The Explosive Shock Wave crashed into the tables, shattering glass and metal. Water spilled over their feet. Itachi didn’t flinch—he was standing right in front of Minako. Kisame wouldn’t hit him.

“Are you done?” he said.

“Eh. It’ll do.”

They strode towards the exit. Itachi kept his expression flat, even as he considered the possible consequences of what happened. At best, Minako would not remember their encounter at all. Her team would find her or she would escape, and no one would know who passed through here. At worst, he had just given her reason to doubt his dedication to Akatsuki, and the narrative he’d spun for her.

The sharp whistle-rattle of a chain flying through the air was ingrained into his memory. He ducked, whirling to meet her charge, knowing exactly how much she liked pulling herself after it to attack.

Minako, you fool—!

“AGH—GKK!”

Blood splattered across Itachi’s face. An earth spike jutted from the ceiling, piercing her from behind. She writhed in pain, unable to even pull herself off with her bound hands. Above her was a man made of stone, melting out of the cave walls, face warped with maddened grief.

His eyes were open.

_“Tsukiyomi!”_

The man fell, flesh and blood again. His screams echoed throughout the cavern, only to stop under Samehada’s teeth. Itachi didn’t care. His arms were around Minako, bracing her from the cold stone floor.

Kisame’s gaze flickered from Itachi to the empty space she’d appeared from. “That’s the Uzumaki girl,” he said. “Itachi, you…”

“Get a medic,” Itachi said.

Kisame’s eyes narrowed.

“Pein wants her,” Itachi reminded him. “Or are you going to be the one to tell him you let something he wanted die?”

“We’re not done here,” Kisame said. But he went.

The silence stretched around Minako’s ragged breaths. Itachi lifted her head, letting it rest against his shoulder. She grimaced. But she didn’t look away from his face.

“It’s really you,” she said. Her eyes were glazed with pain and disbelief. “I thought… was seeing things, but then… the water…”

“Stop.” Itachi’s grip was too tight. His voice, too weak. His coat was soaked in blood. He didn’t want to know what expression he was making. “Don’t speak.”

Don’t speak. Save your strength. Let your healing take over.

So many words. So many things he couldn’t say, because she had to live. And if she lived, he couldn’t let her know.

His mask was falling apart, and still he held on. Because to let go meant it was okay to let her know.

It meant she was going to die.

She shuddered. Her breathing was labored. Her face was sallow with pain. But her grip was as strong as ever, as she pulled him in by the collar. “Take care of my brother,” she rasped. “ _Our_ brothers.”

“Stop it.”

“No more of this—” She broke off, coughing.

“Minako, stop.”

Her hand shook. “No more martyr… bullshit. They need—they’ll need you.”

“ _Minako._ ”

Tears slid down her cheeks. “I didn’t even think about it,” she confessed. “All my big talk, and I didn’t even hesitate.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. She shuddered again, her sob catching in her throat. The world was awash in Sharingan red. Itachi didn’t want it, didn’t want to remember her like this, limp and fragile, without the vivacity in everything she did.

“Promise me,” she insisted. “Naruto, he’ll—I don’t want… to leave him alone.” Her eyes widened at the words spilling from her own lips.

“I promise,” Itachi said. He reached for her hand, fingers slippery with blood. She closed her eyes.

“I hate it,” she whispered. “Don’t want to… Never even… got to tell you…”

He didn’t know how long he sat there, waiting. Waiting for her to finish. Waiting for her to say one more word, to draw out the moment a little longer. To let her know…

But time kept moving on. And he wouldn’t be alone for much longer.

He sealed her into a scroll, drawing on half-remembered clan protocols. Naruto, as clan head, would decide what to do next. It would be up to him how Minako—how Uzumaki clan members would be laid to rest.

It shamed him to hesitate. Standing at the entrance to the caverns, he looked to the south, where Kisame would be coming with the medic… and Tobi, if enough concerns were raised.

If he went back, he’d be undoing all his work in keeping Konoha from Uchiha Madara.

But if he didn’t leave, he would be breaking his promise to her all over again.

Itachi tucked the scroll in his waistband, turned, and ran.


	2. Prompt: Hands (Itachi/Minako)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How are you?” said a soft voice, coming up behind me.  
> “Is this some kind of joke? If it is, it’s not funny.” My voice started to shake. I knew that gentle tone[.](https://fleeting-white-feathers.tumblr.com/post/636261253841600512/prompt-277)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gentle reminder that this isn't canon. Set in Shippuden, after Jiraiya's death. Listen to Stay by Zedd for this one ;)

I stood in front of the memorial stone, my hands hanging helplessly at my sides. This wasn’t the one in Training Ground 3 that Kakashi liked to frequent. This was the one in Training Ground 22, still commonly referred to as “the Uchiha training grounds,” even after all these years. It was a simple block of stone, obsidian as an Uchiha eye. Crowning the top was a stone flame, with a red bowl in front for incense.

This was the memorial for the Uchiha Massacre. Hidden in the woods where non-clan could visit, but still within the family grounds.

“You’d think I’d be used to it,” I told Mikoto’s name, carved at the top. “After you, and Shisui, even Jiji. But even now, I—”

My hands clenched into fists. I swallowed, and tried again.

“Naruto’s upset. Their relationship was different from ours, but he and Jiraiya still—”

I had to pause again. I stood there for who knows how long, staring in the empty space and counting all the lives lost. The people lost to me.

“How are you?” said a soft voice, coming up behind me.

I froze; stared, unseeing, at the rows of names lining the stone.

“Is this some kind of joke? If it is, it’s not funny.” My voice started to shake. I knew that gentle tone.

It took a moment’s thought to channel the Kyuubi’s chakra. I was agitated, stressed; my emotions were all over the place. The Kyuubi’s ominous presence had been haunting me since I received the news. My nails hardened into claws. I flexed my fingers, ready to draw my own blood and end this genjutsu.

“No need for that.” A warm hand slipped into mine.

Flickering coals that threatened an inferno. I closed my eyes, fighting back tears. It was really him. He was really here.

“Are you here to take me away?”

“No. I came to warn you.”

Our hands stayed locked. My fingers were curled inward, ready to cut into his tendons at the slightest twitch. His were similarly tensed, to grip my hand and keep me from making hand signs if necessary. A shaky stalemate.

“Pein is coming,” he said. His gaze, always so potent I could almost feel it on my skin, was not on me. I kept my eyes trained on the memorial, each word dropping into my gut like a heavy stone.

“You didn’t need to come here to tell me that,” I said. “You didn’t need to tell _me_ that.” I turned, setting eyes on him for the first time.

The moonlight filtering through the trees traced his profile with a soft glow. His stress lines were as present as ever, the hollows under his eyes just as deep. My heart twinged even as I tried to harden myself against it.

“Why are you here, Itachi?”

Slowly, he turned away from the memorial. Eyes as black as the stone pierced through me. “I suppose… I wanted to remind myself of who I’m doing this for.”

“Sasuke’s at Kakashi-sensei’s,” I told him.

“I know,” he said.

The forest rustled around us, restless in the face of our stillness. Even the animals had quieted. The silence was a blanket muffling the rest of the world.

My smile slipped through, in spite of myself. “You peeked through his window already, didn’t you? You creep.”

His lip quirked. “Hn.”

I pulled away with a sigh. “I won’t tell him you were here.” The ache had returned to my chest, spreading numb melancholy through my veins. “Or that you still check on him. Or that you still care. The usual.”

He cupped my cheek. I stiffened.

“Minako.”

My heart thundered in my ears. His pinky was three inches from my jugular, his thumb just shy of my right eye. The heat of his touch soaked into my skin.

“Thank you for taking care of him.”

A single tear slipped through his fingers. “Come home, Itachi.”

“Not yet.” He dropped his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” I closed my eyes. A second tear joined the first. I regretted the words as soon as they left me, but there was no taking back the pain that flashed across his face.

“Take care,” he said instead. He stepped back. Panic seized me; I shoved it down with the ease of long practice, deep, deep down, where it couldn’t get in my way.

“I’ll watch out for him.” An apology and promise in one.

For some reason, it only made him look sad.

“Take care, Minako,” he repeated. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t say anything to that heavy gaze.

A rush of black feathers, and I was alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> re: Today’s supposed RWTBD update  
> Sorry I am not in a good headspace rn and idk if that will improve in the next week. **Final chapter of the Uchiha Massacre arc will be delayed.** I’ll try to upload next week, either the update itself or another drabble, but don’t hold your breath I don’t want anyone to die 😂 Have a good day!


	3. Request: Accident pt. 2 (Itachi/Minako)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SuuItosukai: *coughs* I had thoughts about Minako being edo-tensei, would Itachi still be alive for the war >.>
> 
> Me: Pray tell what are these thoughts 👀

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have little to no understanding of the Fourth Shinobi World War and the actual logistics of the Edo Tensei, so please ignore any and all inaccuracies lol. Also, in case it wasn’t clear, Naruto is the jinchuuriki in this AU.

If there was one thing Itachi could respect about Shikamaru, it was his ability to make hard tactical decisions without cold, heartless sacrifice. He optimized his resources, sending balanced teams where they’d be best suited and ensuring not a single loss was wasted. And if the young Nara didn’t like him, well. Who did, at this point?

So when Shikamaru contacted him and said, <Leave Deidara to Sasuke. Team 8 needs your help,> he didn’t hesitate, sparing his brother a single warning before leaping away.

<Who is it?> he asked, because in this war, his role was to take down the S class nin Kabuto reanimated. Against such opponents, one could never be too prepared.

<Whatever you do, don’t let Naruto anywhere near,> was all Shikamaru said, before the emptiness in Itachi’s mind signaled the end of the Yamanaka jutsu.

Cold dread sank into Itachi’s gut. He ran faster, heading for the steep riverbank Ino planted in his mind. He crested the hillside.

Red streamed in the wind like a war banner, as two figures frantically tried to keep their opponent away from a third. A large wave crashed over the stone banks, followed by rattling chains.

The dread solidified.

Yes. This was something he could do.

“Shino! Shino, please get up!”

The Aburame shifted against the remains of an Earth Wall jutsu. His hand was clamped against the growing red stain on his side. “I am fine… Minako.”

Minako slumped with relief, even as three chakra chains arced towards the helpless boy. His Hyuuga teammate charged in, slapping them out of their intended trajectory.

“Thanks, Hinata,” Minako said, tossing kunai at her feet.

Hinata nodded, her glare fierce with concentration. She deflected the kunai as well, their tags exploding harmlessly over the water. Minako twitched, right before two Inuzuka clones burst out of the ground beneath her.

“Gatsuga!”

She ducked, trailing chakra chains; one snagged on one of her attackers, quickly wrapping around the spiraling Fang Over Fang. A loud yelp, and the jutsu ended with a crack of smoke. The Inuzuka dog crashed to the ground.

“Akamaru!” its human partner cried.

“Sorry, sorry!”

Hinata darted in, keeping more chakra chains from taking advantage of the opening. The ground darkened, as a cloud of insects scurried towards their enemy. Akamaru got back to its feet with a howl.

Itachi summoned Karatenko. “Get Sakura-san,” he said, his eyes never straying from the scene. “Tell her Aburame Shino needs medical assistance.”

His summon cawed, before launching itself into the sky.

He landed in front of Minako.

“Itachi,” she breathed. In spite of the cracks on her face, and the dark gray filling her sclera, her eyes were as blue as ever.

As soon as she registered him as the major threat, all her chains peeled away from Team 8, arrowing straight for his back. He parried two with a kunai, twisted around four, and pinned the last to the ground with shuriken. He leapt away, dodging the Water Bullet she spat at his feet.

“Where’s Naruto?” she said, launching herself at him with her chains. He blocked her kick, sweeping her leg out from under her. She recovered with a flip.

“Shikamaru said not to let him near.”

She faltered, longing taking over as she glanced towards the war-torn horizon. “Right. That’s. That makes sense.”

The control seal allowed her a single glimpse, before her chains were flying towards him again. Itachi went low, forcing her to abandon the mid-range weapons to meet him with taijutsu instead.

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Thank him for me, will you?”

“I will.”

The stab towards her face was a loving caress. The fire he sent her way was the warmth of an embrace he couldn’t give. Every merciless slash was a gift, knowing the last thing she wanted was to be used as a weapon against the people she loved.

It’s where they differed, in a way.

She gasped in relief when he finally cut her hands off, stopping her from forming hand seals. Her body retreated to recover, even as she gave him a shaky smile. “Thank you, Itachi.”

Itachi tightened his grip on his kunai. _Don_ _’t. Don’t thank me._

“Hinata, can you seal the tenketsu on my back for me?” she continued. “I won’t be able to form chains then. That should make it easy enough to seal me.”

“No need.”

Minako’s eyes went wide, as orange chakra bright as the sun landed behind her. Stronger than any seal or compulsion, she whirled around, ashy stumps reaching for her brother.

“Naruto!”

He (because he wouldn’t send his clone, not for this) crushed her to his chest, burying his face in her neck. Chakra flared. He lifted his hand, revealing a seal plastered between her shoulder blades.

She collapsed. He caught her in his arms, gently lowering the both of them to the ground. Tears dripped down his dirt-streaked cheeks. Her head lolled against his bicep, as he cradled her in his lap.

“Minako,” he said. She stared at him like he was the moon, and she couldn’t look away.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said, all her joy, dismay, and love spilling from those six words.

“You’re here,” he said. Like it was that simple.

Maybe it was.

Minako shifted, then frowned. “This seal…”

“It’s yours.” Naruto grinned, closer to the cheeky smiles Itachi remembered from their childhoods than anything he’d seen from the boy in the past few months. “The one you made to block all outside chakra interference. We were just about to test it when I felt you.”

Understanding dawned on her face. She raised her wrist, then stared at it, as if seeing herself for the first time.

“Is it working?” Naruto’s voice wavered.

Her answering smile was blinding. She threw her arms around him, bowling him onto his back. Their relieved, almost hysterical laughter echoed through the small canyon, a bright sound in the chaos just out of sight.

Itachi’s feet were rooted to the ground. To the side, Sakura had landed by Team 8, her hands glowing over Shino’s wound. Kiba and Akamaru slumped next to him, taking a break, while Hinata stood guard over them all.

He had done his part. The twins were reunited, for however long Minako’s Edo Tensei lasted without Kabuto’s influence. He should go. Other people still needed help.

And still, his feet would not move.

“But is it working?” Naruto demanded, his clogged nose rendering the words near-unintelligible. “You gotta tell me, there are like, a hundred of you, and if we could get even a few on our side—”

“Yes!” Minako laughed again. “I can’t feel my connection to that snake bastard anymore. But you gotta adjust it to let nature chakra in. Otherwise I can’t regrow these.” She waved her stumps at him. “Or regenerate chakra. I don’t know what will happen if I run out.”

“Alright, alright, just—” Naruto sputtered. “Get up, I need to reach your back. Minako! Your hair is _in my teeth_.”

“You love my hair,” Minako retorted, shoving herself upright. “And I can’t do anything about that, I don’t have hands!”

“I’m sorry,” Itachi said. The twins froze, rabbit-like: Minako, blinking at the reminder of a world beyond them; Naruto, scowling at the reminder of Itachi’s presence.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Minako said immediately. She twisted into a cross-legged position, her back to her brother. “I literally asked for it. Don’t apologize for things I decided on my own.”

“I put you in the position to make that decision,” Itachi countered. She stared at him, eyes wide and luminous. Drying tears slipped through the cracks on her face, rivulets through cracked earth. Somehow, he’d ended up kneeling in front of her, forcing her to look him in the eye, forcing himself to look into the eyes he’d last seen lifeless and blank.

“Oh yeah,” Naruto said, his voice dark. “About that.”

Itachi flinched, half a second before Minako. Then Naruto smacked her over the head.

“ _Ow!_ ” She pressed her wrists to the offended area, in what had to be instinct instead of actual pain. “What was that for?!”

“You _know_ what it’s for, dattebayo.”

Minako’s arms dropped. Her hair slid over her shoulder, as Naruto pushed the strands out of the way. He held her still, while he worked on his seal with his other hand.

“Yeah. I know.” She reached back and touched his white-knuckled fingers. Her free wrist settled over Itachi’s.

Itachi twitched in surprise.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t,” Itachi said, then stopped. Her sincerity burned in his throat.

“Yeah,” Naruto said, surprising him again. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I mean it,” Minako insisted. The ash that formed her body scraped over his skin, small, soothing caresses that could’ve easily been done with a thumb, if she had any.

“You’d do it again,” Naruto shot back, relentless, unforgiving. Itachi could do nothing but watch as Minako’s face fell, her gaze glued to her lap.

“I’d do it differently,” she corrected. “If I had the chance, I would.”

Itachi looked away. If she hadn’t died there, Kisame would’ve dragged her back to Pein, and Itachi would’ve been forced to go along. Or he could have helped her escape. Or they could have escaped, together, and Itachi wouldn’t have had to come home carrying a corpse in a scroll.

“Hey.” A rough hand cupped his cheek. Startled, Itachi’s head snapped up. The marks around Minako’s eyes creased with her soft smile. Naruto slumped against her, hiding his expression. “Enough wallowing. No time for regrets, right?”

“Easy for you to say.” Naruto’s voice was muffled against her back. Her smile wobbled.

“I know. I know. It’s unfair, and I’m so sorry. But there’s not enough time. And I’d rather spend that time kicking ass with you two.”

Naruto made a face only Itachi could see. Still, he stood when she did. Her regenerated fingers interlocked with his without either of them looking. What surprised Itachi was when her free hand slipped into his.

He stared at their joined hands until she tugged on them. Again, he met her gaze, and again, there was a gentleness and warmth in it that he instinctively shied from. But her grip was as strong as iron, holding his gaze and his hand and his heart.

“I’m going to talk to Sakura-chan,” Naruto said suddenly, dropping his sister’s hand. Itachi wished he could look at him, check with him—was he allowed this? Did he really have a right to this, to Minako and whatever they held between them, when he was the one who carried her corpse back home?

“Naruto,” Itachi said, then stopped. He didn’t know what to say.

The boy—man, now, resplendent in a coat made of pure chakra and a confidence tempered by experience—snorted. “Don’t take too long. We still have to find Sasuke.”

Minako’s bright laugh eased any lingering anxiety on Itachi’s shoulders. “Can’t let him miss his turn to hit me,” she agreed.

They followed Naruto at a more sedate pace. Neither of them spoke. But it was a silence that couldn’t be put into words, not a silence of words left unsaid.

There was no time. The war was still going on, and Naruto’s new seal was about to turn the game on its head. A powerful kunoichi like Minako would only help level out the playing field even further. And, when everything ended, win or lose, she couldn’t stay.

But, for now, they had this. A moment of silence. A moment together.

Minako squeezed his hand. Itachi hesitated, then squeezed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This just kept growing? Like a fungus?? Like the prompt asked for Itachi’s reaction but of course a prompt like this cannot not have Naruto in it, and of course his feelings would be all over the place, so I couldn’t really get into Minako and Itachi’s because the twins took the forefront, and in the end I had little to no foundation to work with, so the drabble kinda…. Ended like that? Sorry!! T_T Hope you’ll enjoy it still, I do think it has some good feelings at its core.

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I'd ever even need a writing dump for RWTBD, and yet, here I am. Thank you to everyone who requested and supported me all this time! You're literally the reason this exists lol
> 
> You can send more requests or questions [here](https://fleeting-white-feathers.tumblr.com/ask) <3


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